ZagrebDox is an international documentary film festival launched in 2005 which takes place in Croatia's capital Zagreb every year. The festival showcases creative documentary features from around the world, and also includes workshops for prospective filmmakers which help them develop their projects.
History The week-long festival, usually held in the spring, traditionally has an international and a regional competition category. The regional program includes films from Croatia, or from other countries in Southeast Europe (Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia).
ZagrebDox also involves non-competitive screenings, such as retrospectives of works of particular filmmakers, or films dealing with a common subject or genre.
The festival is organized by a Zagreb-based film production company called Factum. As of 2019, the festival had featured more than 2,000 films over the previous 14 years, which were seen by approximately 290,000 moviegoers.
Awards The following are the main prizes given at the festival: Big Stamp (): The festival's main prize, given to both the best film screened in international competition, and to the best film in the regional competitive selection Small Stamp (Mali pečat) for the best documentary film made by a young filmmaker under 35 years of age FIPRESCI Award for best film in regional competition, as selected by a jury of professional film critics accredited by FIPRESCI Audience Award for the best film as voted by festival audiences
The festival occasionally includes special awards for their promotion of human rights or for highlighting topics deemed important and relevant, and also gives out lifetime achievement prizes to international filmmakers for outstanding accomplishments in the field of documentary filmmaking.
Winners International competition YearInternational titleDirector(s)Ref2005 The 3 Rooms of Melancholia2006 Before Flying Back to Earth2007 Civil Status2008 War/Dance and Andrea Nix Fine2009 Lady Kul El Arab2010 Petition2011 Position Among the Stars2012 Returns2013 Kudzu Vine2014 The Last Station and Catalina Vergara2015 Virunga2016 Poet on a Business Trip2017 The Dazzling Light of Sunset2018 Of Fathers and Sons2019 Up the Mountain2020 Froth2021 Downstream to Kinshasa2022 Sabaya2023 Manifesto2024 Four Daughters2025 Mr. Nobody Against PutinDavid Borenstein and Pavel Talankin2026 A Fox Under a Pink MoonMehrdad Oskouei and Soraya Akhlaghi
Regional competition YearInternational titleDirector(s)Ref2005 Images from the Corner2006 Totally Personal2007 Europe Next Door2008 Weddings and DiapersCasey Cooper Johnson and Antoneta Kastrati2009 The Caviar Connection2010 TotóPeter Schreiner2011 Trials, Tribulations & Sustainable Growth of a CockVladimir Perović2012 A Day on the DrinaInes Tanović2013 TzvetankaYoulian Tabakov2014 Sacro GRA2015 Cain's Children2016 4.7Đuro Gavran2017 Depth TwoOgnjen Glavonić2018 The Other Side of Everything2019 Una primaveraValentina Primavera2020 Acasa, My HomeRadu Ciorniciuc2021 My Uncle Tudor2022 DidaNikola Ilić and Corina Schwingruber Ilić2023 Matter Out of Place2024 KIXDávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész2025 My Dad’s LessonsDalija Dozet2026 The Mountain Won't MovePetra Seliškar
Best Young Director Year English title Original title Director(s) Country 2005 Life in Peace Mirnaya zhizn and Pavel Kostomarov Switzerland, Russia 2006 The Angelmakers Hungary, Netherlands, United Kingdom 2007 Grandmothers of Revolution Babice revolucije Macedonia, Netherlands, Cuba, Slovenia 2008 Audience of One United States 2009 On the Way to School İki Dil Bir Bavul and Orhan Eskikoy Turkey 2010 Chasm Otchłań Poland 2011 Charcoal Burners Smolarze Poland 2012 The Will Testamentet Denmark 2013 Turn Off the Lights Lumea in patratele Romania 2014 The Special Need Germany, Italy, France, Austria 2015 Another Hungary – The Life of a Village – Fragments Másik Magyarország - Töredékek egy falu hétköznapjaiból Hungary 2016 Above and Below Switzerland, Germany, United States 2017 Depth Two Dubina dva Serbia 2018 Over the Limit Marta Prus Poland, Germany, Finland 2019 Still Recording Lissa ammetsajjel Saeed Al Batal, Ghiath Ayoub France, Germany, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria
Audience Award Year English title Original title Director(s) Country 2005 Direkt (40) Without Dad Direkt (40) Bez tate CroatiaChildren of the DecreeDas Experiment 770 - Gebären auf Befehl and Florin Iepan Romania, Germany 2006 Wasn't awarded 2007 Blue Blood United Kingdom 2008 All White in Barking United Kingdom 2009 The English Surgeon United Kingdom 2010 People from the Milky Way Ljudi s mliječnog puta CroatiaThe Destiny of Line 13Sudbina broja 13 2011 Waste Land Brazil, United Kingdom 2012 Family Meals Nije ti život pjesma Havaja Croatia 2013 Gangster of Love Gangster te voli Croatia, Germany, Romania 2014 Dear Lastan! Dragi Lastane! Croatia 2015 I Like That Super Most Best Lijepo mi je s tobom, znaš Croatia 2016 Twilight of a Life Ad ktze ha'zrikha Belgium, Israel 2017 The Eagle Huntress United Kingdom, Mongolia, United States 2018 The Other Side of Everything Druga strana svega Mila Turajlić Serbia, France, Qatar 2019 Neighbors Susjedi Tomislav Žaja Croatia
Lifetime Achievement Award (The Lifetime Achievement Award (Počasni pečat) was introduced at the 2009 edition, for outstanding contribution to documentary filmmaking)
Bogdan Žižić (2009) Jon Alpert (2009)
Special awards Apart from the regular categories, the festival sometimes awards special prizes, often related to themes of a particular festival edition.
YearAwardFilmDirector Mark Morgan Ricki Stern & Anne Sundberg Michael Jacobs Marc Isaacs Anders Østergaard Tatiana Huezo Joshua Oppenheimer Vitaly Mansky Andrew Droz Palermo & Tracy Droz Tragos
References
External links